for all the things we complain about our government it's pretty good than most countries. they swing this way and that way and 20 different parties and we're in this situation where there's no iron center here to anchor things and it's not just this fiscal cliff. it's everything. >> we are in a quasi-parliamentary system with political institutions aren't built for it. our structure does not allow for this level of partisanship. as you look at this as you point out, we are on an unsustainable path in the long run in our fiscal kind of situation. republicans and democrats have to live with each other probably for the next four years. at least for the next two years but likely the next four years. is there a path that you think makes sense that is a truce line that would be reasonable for both sides to accept? >> well, we'd really like to see some forward movement in the bigger problems, the tax system, there are things we need to spend more money on, some things we need to spend less money on. it's dysfunctional and those ideas are out there. they've been discussed but they